... are found on every continent except Antarctica. They are primarily nocturnal, and known for their strident mating calls. Many katydids exhibit mimicry and camouflage, often resembling leaves in shape and colour. They are also known as bush crickets.
The name 'katydid' is of US origin, and describes their nocturnal calls. The Online Etymology Dictionary quotes J.F.D. Smyth, from A Tour in the United States of America (1784): "[T]heir noise is loud and incessant, one perpetually and regularly answering the other in notes exactly similar to the words Katy did, or Katy Katy did, repeated by one, and another immediately bawls out Katy didn't, or Katy Katy didn't. In this loud clamour they continue without ceasing until the fall of the leaf, when they totally disappear."
© Haydn Thompson 2017